If I swore not to describe my heart, would it stop beating forever?

About:

I realize ‘forever’ is quite a long time. Quite a boast, I know. Naturally, what I really mean is… well… I’m certain you can divine my meaning.

In any event, the work here posted, will not be akin to light-hearted limericks describing my vacation in Majorca.

Rather, they will concern the things in my mind. There are many such things. And many things about these things. Things I find important. Things without which my life would be empty.

I may also transcribe and include some older work. Things I have written over the years. These will be in addition to the ones I will write daily; or perhaps insurance, in the event I find myself in a coma. I will note the extras, but I will not put them in date order–e.g. something I wrote a couple of centuries ago will not be posted on July 4th, 1776–because that will break the chain of days. I will instead postdate them as coma insurance.

I may also write some extra ones, if I can, (more coma insurance) giving preference to the new over the old, unless I decide otherwise.

Not all the entries here will contain additional internal rhymes; although I have a fondness for them. It lends additional challenge to the form.

Neither will they necessarily contain archaic forms of English; although in this, I have a similar fondness, and for the same reason.

The same holds true for Greek, Biblical, (or any other) mythological references. Even more so, due to the poor quality of public education, and the late onset, at least in earnest, of my autodidactic one.

Neither will I take no liberties with the form, even given all its challenging varieties; but not so many as TimA tkins, to give an extreme example. Such a practice presents no challenge at all; unless, perhaps a naked emperor might be involved in some way.

I have, in fact, created the blog mentioned below. I have added a menu to this system of blogs (and any static pages I may create) in order to streamline access to them. However, in the interest of thoroughness, the new blog can be found here.

Lately, I have taken to writing sonnets based upon works in other forms that I have written over the years. I guess the comment section of this introductory post is as good a place as any to write about such changes, ideas, revelations, etc. as this.

For that reason, I will probably leave comments on this post closed, and just use it for blogging. Or perhaps, I’ll convert this into a real blog if it seems I’ll have more to prattle on about than I at first thought.

NOTE ON SEQUENCES:

Having gone through very nearly every possibly permutation of presentation, I have finally decided to present all sequences in “blog” order. This means that a link to a sequence of sonnets will also contain a link to the first in the sequence; however from there one must scroll upward, not downward, to view the remaining members of the sequence in their proper order. This, ultimately, seemed the most natural way in which to present such sequences in an “organic” way rather than to go against the simple, built-in logic of a functioning blog.

I have, in the past tried reversing these so that tag-based links would present these sequences in a “top-down” manner; but in the end, it seemed counter-intuitive. Lastly, through analysing the generated code that the wordpress.com backend system generates, I have discovered that there are present a number of hidden bookmarks throughout any aggregation of posts–whether via category or tags. This enabled me to provide a link directly to the first member of each sequence of sonnets. Until I deign to self-host, this will have to do.

First off thanks for the reply, it is much appreciated. I love math always have but alcohol ruined all that early on in life. Alcoholism is a disease and is passed down via family. My mother, Father plus numerous Aunts’ and Uncle’s were alcoholic.
After 34 years of continuous sobriety the program of AA is woven into my being; it is a part of me. HOW? Honesty…Open mindedness…Willingness…
It took 5-7 years of constant AA meetings before sobriety was seized and embedded in my core. My life seemed shattered but I was wrong. As time passed the real me came out and total happiness flowered.

The key issue is that I do not abstain in the main sense of the word. The desire to drink has been taken away. I keep the door to the past ajar, knowing fully well that if I took a drink I would die. Working with the still suffering alcoholic is a constant reminder of the horror and pain associated with the disease; giving it away in order to keep it which is one of many oxymorons of AA.

Progressive is the old Liberal yet still their heads are buried in the sand. The age of “make nice” and “don’t hurt their feelings” is repulsive. Children need to build calluses on their feelings; trophies should only be handed out to the winner. A man must stand up for truth without fear. Erase the phrase politically correct and call the game of life as you see it. Common sense and belief in God instills these character traits. But if you lie to someone just to make them feel better you are enabling the problem. Truth is a sharp sword, brandish it daily.

I think I should apologise as well…. Perhaps such a place was the wrong one within which to muse about such things. I truly do understand and fully appreciate all of what you write here and back in the lagoon regarding addiction in general and AA in particular.

As I mentioned, my best friend is as you are in that regard. I have asked him about some of these curiosities of mine but I think I have the sense that it is better left alone, and might instead be an issue for molecular biologists and cultural anthropologists and historians and other such denizens of the deep.

And, I will admit it was not I who originated some of these musings. They were originally planted in my mind by a much younger friend and colleague of mine. I cannot now remember the context of the conversation in which we had, so long ago been engaged, but I do remember he posed a rhetorical question something like “I can’t not have cancer one day at a time, can I? So maybe [alcoholism] is a real thing, but it just seems like ‘disease’ might be the wrong word, dude.” (approximately 85% of his sentences ended with the word “dude.”)

This was the original seed of the thought, one might say. And even though I wonder about such things (such as the similarity between dogs and alcohol) It does not by any means imply that I do not understand the scope of the problem people face regarding substances or other activities to which they become addicted.

you keep the sonnets
in the freezer,
i have seen
them.
it makes sense
to serve them
cold, eventually
fixed, crystalline
lines bonding
so naturally,
wrapped
around the volta,
one nibble
away
from melting
on the tongue
.
20130603:0839
y

This is most kind, and I think very genuinely intended; and it is with deep regret that I must inform you that I do not accept awards of any kind, nor any form of nomination that it is within my power to decline.

In addition I feel I must not participate in any form of aggregation beyond that which is required for publication. My reasons for this are numerous; however, suffice it to say that I feel quite adamant that I must not participate in any ring, group, award, nomination or magazine, either printed or electronic. This is especially true regarding any of these which deal with writing in general and poetry in particular.

One of the most difficult aspects of my web presence is in the composition and expression of the deep regret I feel in having to decline any and all such honours–particularly at my current level of relative anonymity when there is no doubt whatsoever that these overtures are completely genuine and heartfelt.

Every time this occurs, I feel compelled to write a personal note to the individual who made such an overture; and I must question yet again my own determination in this regard. But… in the end, I feel there is no way I can participate in any such process. As in this case, I feel such a sadness whenever I must do this; but I thank you once again for your generous and kind intentions.

Thank you. It does doom me to obscurity even in wordpress terms; however I do love sonnets–and all because I fell in love so very, very long ago.

If I were a woman, I must say I would more likely court the favour of Dylan Thomas, I think, rather than TSE, if we are speaking of the 20 century. He was as modern as any well known poet of the time, but he used classical forms to great effect.

I would give him my rapt attention and praise, wear lovely dresses, feed him hardy and delicious meals and encourage him to drink less, and pay less attention to his critics.

Thanks so much for following the Jenn stories. I went through a phase of a sonnet a WEEK once . . . but definitely not forever. (I have since decided I’m just not a poet.) So I’m impressed at your goal/efforts.

Thank you. I have, to be honest, taken a hiatus a time or two when “real” work has piled up. Still, I have so much to write about and love the form so much that, most times, the pursuit seems largely effortless.

Thank you, sir, for following my blog. I look forward to keeping in touch and reading more of your work. I occasionally write poetry when I simply have to get something out of my body but have not posted any yet. Maybe someday I’ll work up the courage for that… for now, I’m building the courage to simply write and have a blog. Writing is one of the most vulnerable arts (in my opinion).

I struggle with the desire to self-publish my poems. I have a blog with a lot of followers, probably more followers than some of the lesser-known online journals out there, but there is a conundrum to go along with that scenario. If I publish my own poems on my WordPress site, they immediately become ineligible for submission for publication to almost every journal and literary review out there.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you reserve some of your work for submissions or do you self-publish everything and submit to publications that accept previously-published material?

I do not participate in rings, magazines, or aggregation of any form. If I am invited I decline. Neither do I accept nominations of any kind, either web-based or mainstream. I have nothing at all to do with publications of any kind especially those involving writing in general and poetry in particular. I have a long list of reasons for this; most of them can be gleaned from within this blog; however I do not have a specific page to which to direct you wherein all these are aggregated.

So the answer to your first question is no. I do not reserve any work for this reason; however at the current time, I choose only to publish sonnets and their concomitant introductions.

You are most welcome : ) I should also here state that neither am I what one might term a “loner;” I prefer communicating with individuals rather than with groups. Therefore I do not at all mind discussing any and all such pursuits with you or other individuals on a one-on-one basis–whether publicly via wordpress or privately. My preference is to do so via the blogging interface because such discussions more-or-less kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Neither do I, or would I, mind explaining my positions on the matters of publication with you or others, it is just a long (an boring) topic and I tend to be long winded on any and all subjects. Fair warning : )

Thanks for the follow and the like. I would insult you to make you happy, as it says just above this text box in which I’m writing, but I think you have very good work posted on this blog. So in the Shakespearian vein of things, I’ll just call you a “gorbellied doghearted giglet”. Hope that makes you happy.

You are most welcome, and thanks for dropping by. Not may people have a taste for sonnets. I am ever, therefore, curious as to the method or means whereby people stumble upon my quiet little corner of WordPress.

My friend drew it for me. I can only draw stick figures unfortunately.
My avatar is part of a larger drawing that she did for me for a (100-word Flash)story that is going to be published soon, called “Apartment Business.”
I am not sure if it is still up on my blog…I will have to take a look.

The journey of a thousand miles, as they say. Still that first step is the challenge…. I have no talent for the visual arts, and yet… I found I could learn them if I took those steps. Alas, I ultimately chose not to pursue such things. This attributable to pure laziness. I make no other excuse : )

I’m very much a latecomer to the sonnet form, and a completely uneducated poet in technique; I remember having only one course in poetry at all in my undergraduate days. But if you can get any enjoyment out of the process, as I most certainly do, I find it’s worth learning as you go along. As I’ll undoubtedly learn from you!
Cheers,
Kathryn

I have one less course in poetry than you, I fear. For me, it is a story of a young scientist who fell in love with a humanities girl so many decades ago, and sought to understand her universe. Poetry seemed the most logical place to start–at least to my young mind. After discovering the sonnet in the first few days of my study, I began writing them and continued to do so thereafter–although not nearly so many as since I began this website.

Every word I write, indeed, everything I create or build or do, is for my sweetheart, whether it is a sonnet a novel or a bridge or a musical instrument or a piece of equipment, or music I may write or perform…or something I may cook or bake. or.. or…… or…. &c.

I have nominated you for the A B C Award for blogging. I hope you will accept this award and pass it along to other deserving blogs. Please visit the page below to read the details. Thanks for your great work!http://talesalongtheway.com/

Thanks for letting me know. I know that many bloggers feel that way, and I understand on several levels. I struggled with “to do or not to do” as well. I really like to encourage other bloggers so I do. But receiving awards is not why I blog. I don’t post the images on my blog. Anyway…..congratulations from me and keep up the good work! Smiles

I wrote a rather long response and it disappeared ! I read with interest your brave, tenacious struggle with alcohol. My uncle, too, fought to overcome alcohol and drugs. He like you with God’s Grace and support of AA remained clean and sober. Both of you were/are bright, talented, and sensitive. Tom was a Harvard trained psychiatrist . Thank you for sharing. Blessings! Anne

You are most kind, however the alcohol struggle was that of a reader of mine (also named David, coincidentally.) It is an understandable mistake, because I believe I moved the comment conversation from where they were to where they are now, which makes them appear to be one long comment.

I am very fortunate to be what my friends in AA term a “normie,” meaning I do not have the addiction gene–although I have other quirks and abnormalities, to be sure.

But for my friends in AA/NA, &c, I thank you and hold you in the highest regard for your kind and understanding words.

Oh David, I am a ding-a- ling. Not only did I lose the first message, I misread yours. I have learned not to read and respond late at night, just before sleeping and also that not only are you a marvelous writer, you are also a kind and gracious man!

We are covered yet again with the winter four letter “s” word. Oh, I miss India!
Have a lovely weekend!
Anne

If you use a plugin called “Lazarus form recovery” (available for firefox and chrome, and probably other browsers) you will never lose a huge post again. I cannot live without it. It is the very breath of life for me!

The reason you lost your post was most probably due to the way in which I reposted or moved that set of conversations; since they are no longer in the comment database, they cannot be replied to even though the buttons/widgets are still present. I believe the next time I do such a thing, I shall paste all such content into another surrounding comment. That may (or may not) make them once again interactive; but regardless will alleviate some confusion (I dearly hope.)

My Dear David, Just now I read in the previous message from Annet regarding the award that you do not accept them. I had no idea but I’ve nominated you for the Sunshine award! It’s my way of showing you that your wonderful work is for me a pleasure to read! :) Have a blessed evening!

Hello David!
Very interesting and very talented writing. I look forward to following and really diving into your blog. Also, thank you for following my blog at Faith1st Ministries. I hope it has and will continue to be a major blessing in your life. May God richly bless you as you continue to write and blog. Please continue with us on this journey and remember to have Faith 1st because the “just shall live by his faith.” — Sebastian

Thank you, Hon. Rev. Sebastian. I find your words of faith and encouragement very inspiring. I realise that sonnets are not for everyone : ) still I do hope you find some enjoyment in what I offer here. Most–nay, all–of the work here is born of the Deep and abiding Love I share with my sweet wife. There is, of course a “long story” version of this; but suffice it to here state that she does love sonnets and so I write them for her–as many as I can.

I am not a “humanities guy” by trade–quite the contrary–however Love reached far across the isle and took me over to the “dark side,” (wherein I was promised cookies and other delights)